Orange look to 'make some noise' in tournament

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- When Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara led Syracuse to the national championship three years ago as freshmen, they could look to only one senior for guidance -- Kueth Duany.

As the Orange (23-11) prepare for their NCAA tournament opener Thursday in Jacksonville against Texas A&M (21-8), they again have only one senior.

And he's not looking back.

"I'm not worried about what I did in the past, I'm worried about what I'm trying to do now and what I'm trying to do in the future," said McNamara, whose heroic performances in last week's Big East tournament helped Syracuse earn its second straight conference championship and a fifth seed in the Atlanta regional. "This is my last shot for a run at the title. Freshman year I was fortunate, I was lucky to be a part of a great team like that and to make a run at the right time. That's what we're trying to do."

Making a long run into last year's tournament seemed almost a certainty after McNamara and Hakim Warrick led Syracuse to the Big East tournament title for the first time in 13 years, including an impressive win over nemesis Connecticut in the semifinals.

But a not-so-funny thing happened in the first round -- Vermont, a 13 seed, upset the fourth-seeded Orange 60-57 in overtime.

"The summer was just horrible after that because you're constantly thinking about that game and you can't wait for the next season," junior forward Terrence Roberts said. "We definitely don't want to go out like we did last year."

That stinging, stunning defeat will at least serve as a reminder for this year's team, which moved back into the national rankings at No. 21 on Monday after not receiving any votes in the previous two polls.

"I learned that it's not fun to lose, and I've known that my whole life," said McNamara, who missed a desperation 3 from the top of the key in the final seconds of that game. "We weren't ready to play, and Vermont had a good team and they had good leaders, senior leaders. It was a tough situation for us. We didn't perform and they jumped on us.

"The bottom line is, you have to win," said McNamara, whose clutch play in the Big East tournament earned him MVP honors. "You have to go down there with the same mentality as if you were a No. 1 seed or a No. 16 seed. We've had good seeds in the past. We had a good seed last year, and look where it got us. We have to go down there with the mentality that we still have a lot to prove. We still think we can hopefully make some noise in this tournament."

The Orange have made a lot of noise since dropping their final three games of the regular season. After losing seven times in nine games against ranked teams, Syracuse defeated three in a row last week -- Connecticut, Georgetown and Pittsburgh.

The only explanation is that something finally clicked among McNamara's teammates, who were wildly inconsistent all season. All five starters averaged in double figures in the Big East tournament, something that did not happen once in the first 30 games.

"These guys have grown, stepped it up and grown up," coach Jim Boeheim said. "That should help us a lot this next week. Gerry made the big plays, but these other guys stepped it up. I think that's why we're going forward, and it's given us a little better opportunity now."

As good as last year's 27-7 team was, Boeheim likes this year's squad a lot, at least right now in the wake of its triumphant run at Madison Square Garden.

"The good thing about New York was that we had good balance," Boeheim said. "That's something that we didn't have last year. With Hakim and Gerry, we just didn't have the balance that we do this year."

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Notes:With all but one of its first 15 games in New York state, Syracuse was criticized for playing a soft early schedule. According to the latest RPI rankings, the Orange played the most difficult schedule in the country. ... McNamara made a Big East tournament-record 16 3-pointers to up his career total to 400, only the sixth player in Division I history to reach that plateau. He sits one behind former Radford star Doug Day.